Objective: To investigate the epidemiology of primary pediatric central nervous system tumors.
Methods: The clinical data of 763 pediatric patients aged under 18 diagnosed as with primary central nervous system tumors in the past 10 years in Huashan Hospital were analyzed retrospectively.
Results: The mean age was 12.68 and the male to female ratio was 1.56:1. Among the tumors intracranial tumors accounted for 93.4% (713/763), whereas spinal tumors accounted for 6.6% (50/763). 476 of the 763 tumors (62.4%) were supratentorial, including pineal-quadrigeminal tumors, which was predominant to infratentorial tumors (30.5%, 233/763). 688 of the 763 patients had pathological diagnosis. The most common 5 categories of tumors were: astrocytic tumors (25.7%, 177/688), craniopharyngioma (12.8%, 88/688), medulloblastoma (9.3%, 64/688), germ cell tumors (8.9%, 61/688), and pituitary adenoma (7.5%, 52/688).
Conclusion: As the main neurological medical center in the southern part of China, the statistics of Huashan Hospital can be representative. The epidemiology of pediatric central nervous system tumors has its own specialty. Therefore, it is crucial to deal with primary pediatric central nervous system tumors according to children's characteristics.